Word to the Wise
Friday, September 22, 2023 - Friday in the 24th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Tim 6:2c-12 and Luke 8:1-3]Indeed, religion with contentment is a great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, just as we shall not be able to take anything out of it. If we have food and clothing, we shall be content with that. Those who want to be rich are falling into temptation and into a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains. [1 Timothy]
In the great Broadway musical, Fiddler on the Roof, the main character, Tevye, in a song, If I were a rich man, muses on what he would do with great wealth. I suspect his musing was not unusual. The popularity of TV and magazine features about the "rich and famous" may reflect a broad streak of desire and envy among those who have enough to live on, let alone among those who barely, if at all, have anything! How much is "enough?" St. Paul's words, For the love of money is the root of all evils... has become a common expression.
But the question remains: How much is enough? Global statistics show that more than half of humanity lives without adequate food, shelter, clothing and freedom from violence. Atheistic communism arose in no small part out of the desperation of poor people who saw no way out of their poverty except by revolution, leaving faith behind as "pie in the sky by and by."
All of this presents a tremendous challenge to Christianity and, in particular, to the Church and to those who live with more than "enough." Our planet produces more than enough to feed everyone, but the distribution of resources is skewed by wealth and the high expectations of lifestyle enjoyed by wealthier nations. The Gospel According to Luke contains two parables that deserve greater reflection and action: The Rich Fool (with the reflection that follows) [Luke 12:16-34] and The Rich Man and Lazarus [Luke 16:19-31]. The challenge is global and enormous, but it is also individual. Each of us can do what we can after pondering Jesus' teaching and remembering St. Paul's admonition. AMEN